


lost in your light

by atomicstandard



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Friends to Lovers, i know i said i wasn't going to write this but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22768279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicstandard/pseuds/atomicstandard
Summary: “Thank you!” she smiled, her teeth were perfect, like toothpaste commercial-stock picture perfect.Valentina must’ve been gaping at her for a long time because the girl shot her a concerned look next. “Are you… Valeria? My Nana told me we have a new employee, is that you?”Valentina nodded, then shook her head “My name is Valentina,” she said as firmly as she could.or the au where juliana and valentina hate men and make coffee together.
Relationships: Valentina Carvajal/Juliana Valdés
Comments: 14
Kudos: 188





	lost in your light

Valentina had screwed up.

A few weeks ago, her friends had started planning their graduation trip, and they’d had the fabulous idea of _buying_ a yacht for their celebration. They didn’t even ask Val for her opinion, they just showed up one day and informed her that they needed her to cash in for the payment and she had absentmindedly handed them her credit card. Of course, they omitted the fact that she was the only one cashing in.

The worst thing was that somehow, she’d been discovered. Her family’s accountant had noticed a large sum of money being taken from Valentina’s bank account, making them think she had been robbed or maybe even hacked. Her father had frantically called her very early in the morning the next day, demanding an explanation as to why she’d made such a big expense.

León yelled at her for spending so much money without asking him and then, when she told him she didn’t know her friends were buying the yacht, he yelled some more, arguing that it was even worse that she had so casually handed them her card, like it was nothing.

He was fuming, so mad that he caught the first flight to Canada he could find and dragged her all the way back to Mexico City the same day. She even missed her graduation ceremony.

Now, she was sitting in the little office of a local Café, waiting for her father to finish making the arrangements for her first honest day of work.

“Valentina can start today, Mr. Carvajal; we’re actually short of staff today since my granddaughter is taking her admission exam for college.” Said the sweet old lady behind the desk. She looked proud of her afore mentioned granddaughter. Valentina wondered how it felt to have someone be proud of you.

León smiled at Mrs. Valdés. “That is perfect, Vale would love to start today, right, mija?”

She nodded; it wasn’t like she had a choice on the matter.

“Okay!” said Mrs. Valdés enthusiastically, Valentina thought she was way to lively for that hour. The old lady got up from her seat and ushered León out the door, telling him Val’s shift ended at 3:00. “Come here, mi niña, I’ll show you what you’ll be doing today.”

Valentina smiled and followed after without saying a word.

The day everything blew up, she asked her friends why they spent so much of her money and if they spent the same amount themselves. They didn’t even take a look at her when they told her they hadn’t.

She felt so betrayed and so, _so_ stupid she didn’t even fight back or try to excuse herself during the 6-hour flight from Montreal.

“Valentina?” she heard Mrs. Valdés say. “Look, mijita, you can start by cleaning the tables up front, then I’ll show you how we make our famous café de olla. My nieta can show you the rest tomorrow.”

* * *

She woke up at seven am the next morning. Chivis had made breakfast for her and Alirio was ready to take her to the shop. She’d rushed to the door after taking a way longer shower than she could afford, already dreading Mexico City’s infernal traffic. Valentina hoped to get there on time since her shift started at 8 on the dot.

Valentina mentally went through everything Ramona told her yesterday, the old lady had showed her how to sweep floors and toast coffee, she’d also told Val her granddaughter would teach her how to deal with clients and make the drinks.

To say she was nervous was an understatement.

She’d never done anything like this before, everything in her life had been handed to her in a silver platter, she had never even used a mop in her eighteen years of walking the earth; how was she supposed to work in customer service now?!

Her father was being unreasonable too, that night, after she’d washed the smell of coffee and pastries off of her, she had tried to talk some sense into him, or rather, she’d begged him to put a stop to her punishment, she had learned her lesson. León had stood his ground and told her she was to keep this job until the end of the summer, and that, starting that week, all her income would come from her salary in the coffee shop.

_You need to know how hard it is to earn your own money_ , he had reprimanded her, _maybe after this you’ll think twice before throwing MY credit card around._

Valentina had been too exhausted to argue any further.

Alirio dropped her off outside the café ten minutes after her shift was supposed to start.

“Shit!” Valentina cursed when she saw the hour. “Thank you, Alirio. I’ll see you later!” she yelled over her shoulder as she ran to the front door.

She took a hair tie from her bag and put her hair up in a bun: she was ready for business now.

Val was just entering the shop when she saw one of the patrons throw his scalding hot drink on the barista behind the counter. Valentina saw red, _Who the fuck does this dude thinks he is?_

The barista groaned in pain and walked to the employees’ room (which wasn’t more than a glorified closet, really). The customer and his friends took advantage of this and tried to open the register.

“Oh, hell no!” she said to herself. “Hey, Neanderthal! You and your little friends need to get the hell out of here before I call the police.” Valentina took her phone out and narrowed her eyes at them.

She took a good look at their faces and she was surprised to find that they looked younger than her. Why were these kids trying to rob a coffee shop at 8 am on a Tuesday?

The kids shot her frightened looks before grabbing their backpacks and running out the store.

Satisfied with the way things turned out, Valentina walked to the counter to inspect the mess they’d made; there were two broken mugs and their contents spilled on the floor, plus a couple of sugar and cream containers had been knocked down when he kids made their escape. _Shouldn’t be too hard to clean_ , she thought to herself.

-

She was refilling the sugar container when she saw her -really saw her- for the first time.

She was wearing jeans and a white shirt under her apron; a tall ponytail kept her hair from falling to her face, but two rebellious strands framed her perfectly sculpted jaw. There was a name tag pinned to the burgundy apron reading JULIANA.

The dark-haired girl gave her a surprised look. “You cleaned this?” Valentina could only nod in response. “Thank you!” she smiled, her teeth were perfect, like tooth paste commercial- stock picture perfect. Valentina must’ve been gaping at her for a long time because Juliana shot her a concerned look next. “Are you… Valeria? My Nana told me we have a new employee, is that you?”

Valentina nodded, then shook her head “My name is Valentina,” she said as firmly as she could.

Juliana shot her an apologetic look “I’m so sorry, my head is a little messy right now, you know with the whole kid throwing boiling hot coffee at me… sorry.”

She nodded again, holding out her hand for Juliana to shake it. “No worries” she said as a warm hand enveloped her own.

“Juliana” the brunette gave her another of her disarming smiles.

They finished cleaning up the mess and got to know each other, reasoning that since they were going to spend the next couple of months working together, they might as well be friends.

_“What’s your favorite color?”_

_“Purple. Yours?”_

_“Red”_

_“You have any siblings?”_

_“Nope and I’m glad I don’t.”_

_“Do you believe in love?”_

_“Ew.”_

* * *

Their friendship flourished between paper cups and coffee brewers.

Every day Valentina made it her mission to get as many smiles out of Juliana as possible. She drew smiley faces on the cookies she made for her and played cheesy love songs on the old sound system as she tried and failed to lip synch the right lyrics to them. Juliana’s smile was addictive to her, it made her feel whole, like if she could make this amazing girl feel happy for at least one second then maybe she wasn’t such a screw up.

Juliana and Valentina made a habit of going out for a late lunch together every day after their shift ended; Valentina had learned that Juliana was new in town, so she had made it her mission to show her the best places to eat in the city.

She insisted on paying for their food, arguing that she didn’t really need the money she made at the café (it was total lie, Val was broke, but spending time with Juliana was worth not getting the newest AirPods, she would end up losing them in a day anyway).

They walked to the restaurants and food trucks together, they talked about their families, dreams, aspirations and more, giggling as they ranked their costumers of the day from least to most annoying.

Two weeks into their agreement, Juliana changed the rules of their lunch dates when she felt like Valentina was spending too much money on her ( _as if_ ), she told Val that she was to cook for her on some (most) days too, Valentina had agreed for two main reasons 1) Juliana’s food was great and 2) she got to spend even more time with her while she prepared it.

That was something that had caught her by surprise, how much she enjoyed the other girl’s company. Usually when she met someone new, she felt completely disconnected from them, she couldn’t recall having such a strong need to be around someone like she did with Juliana. Valentina felt incredibly happy because she had found someone that got her, really got her, and it looked like Juliana felt the same.

On one of their outings, Valentina took Juliana to her favorite burger place. The other girl had told her she had been craving one for days and Valentina was no one to deprive her from her desires.

It was a hole in the wall diner near one of the most beautiful parks in Mexico City. Val used to go there religiously before she went to Canada. The owner new her well and had received her like she was family, giving them the best table on the place, it made Valentina feel bad for not coming back sooner, she’d missed it.

“Okay so, what’s good here?” Juliana leaned towards Valentina, pressing the palms of her hands on the table and looking expectantly at her. “You know I’m from the U.S., right? And like, burgers are the only thing they can cook. So, I know my stuff.”

Valentina laughed heartily, she loved it when Juliana got playful like that. “I swear these are the best burgers in town.” She said while pressing a hand to her chest.

“Well, I’ll be the judge of that.” Juliana raised her eyebrow skeptically.

Twenty minutes later, judging by the look on the other girl’s face, Valentina knew she’d nailed it. Juliana’s face was nearly obscene as she bit into the greasy goodness. The other girl seemed to be enjoying the burger an insane amount; there was a little trail of sauce going from the corner of her lip to her chin, making her look like a little kid.

Juliana must’ve sensed her gaze because looked away from her burger to give her a strange look. “Is everything okay?” she asked after chewing a big chunk of her food.

Valentina could only nod as she tried to stifle her laughter. “Yeah, it’s just- you have-” she shook her head, looking around the table before grabbing a napkin and using it o wipe Juliana’s chin. “I think you were enjoying that burger a little too much.” She smiled.

Juliana blushed all the way to her ears. “God, I’m so sorry. I feel like a man.” she shuddered.

“Now that’s just plain gross.” Said Val, and just like that they were giggling like crazy, drawing the attention of the people around them, one of whom, unfortunately, happened to be Valentina’s ex-boyfriend, Lucho.

“Valentina?” she heard him say behind, immediately sobering her up.

He looked older, taller, more muscular than she remembered him.

Too bad she wasn’t interested. “Hey, Lucho.” She greeted him plainly, hoping that he would get the hint and leave them alone.

He didn’t, he went to retrieve a chair from a table nearby and sat next to her. Juliana made a face, clearly uncomfortable with his presence, Valentina agreed.

“How have you been?” he asked her with what he probably thought was a charming smile.

She didn’t know why he was here; they had only ‘dated’ for a week back when she was fourteen and needed a date for one of the company’s balls. She hadn’t even chosen him, Eva had talked to his older sister and they both had arranged the date, they had picked their outfits and told them when they had to smile and how to sway to the slow songs the DJ played. The mere memory of that evening made Valentina want to puke.

“I’m fine,” she shrugged, “just peachy.”

She saw Juliana raise one of her eyebrows at her tone, she was sure she could tell how uncomfortable she was with him on the table. “My name’s Juliana.” She said, drawing Lucho’s attention to her.

He looked taken aback by the fact that she was there, like he hadn’t seen her before. _What a dick,_ she thought. How could anyone miss Juliana’s presence? Valentina herself was hyper aware of it ever since they met, every time Juliana was near Val could feel her skin tingle and her hands itch with the need to be close to her, to bask in the feeling of pure elation being with her gave her.

“Luis Parra” he said, looking down at her. Then, turned to look at Valentina again. “Hey, how about you come with me to this new place in La Condesa. You’re 18, right? I mean I can get us in anyway but-”

Valentina saw red, how dare he dismiss Juliana like that? “No.” she told him with all the disgust she felt.

He blinked stupidly at her, like his pea sized brain couldn’t comprehend she had just rejected him. Juliana watched the scene with a smirk on her lips.

“What?” he gaped at her.

Valentina rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to go out with you, Lucho.” she said calmly. “Juliana and I were having a really nice time until you interrupted us.”

His face changed colors so fast she was almost worried for him. _Almost_. “Okay, well stay with this squalid. Your sister’s hotter anyway.” He said through gritted teeth as he stood up.

Valentina got up from her seat so fast she knocked her fork down, she wasn’t about to let him, or anyone, disrespect Juliana like that in front of her and get away with it. she was about to (try to) smash his teeth in when she felt a hand wrap around her forearm.

“Val, it’s fine. He’s not worth it” Juliana shrugged and they both went back to their seats. “Now, tell me how you met _semejante idiota_.” She teased her.

She snorted, already feeling her anger dissipate. “At school. He’s our age, though certainly less mature.” It was Juliana’s turn to laugh. “I ‘dated’ him for like a second” she admitted, making Juliana frown, “I didn’t want to,” she rushed to say “Eva made me take him as my date to a thing at the company.”

The other girl nodded, she looked relieved. “Well, he can be a real downer.” She said, turning back to her burger. “I was really enjoying this artery clogger.”

“Oh, yeah” Valentina remembered the reason they were there in the first place. “How’d you like it?” she asked expectantly.

Juliana brought her fingers to her mouth and kissed them dramatically, “Delicious.”

* * *

The first time she invited Juliana over to her house was on the hottest day of the summer. Their shift at the café had been strictly filled with cold brews and raspados, every client sweatier than the last one.

She (Alirio) had taken Juliana home telling her to call her when she was ready to go so she could send Alirio for her.

Valentina decided they were going to swim in the pool, she told Chivis to make something light for them to eat and then went to look for a bikini while Alirio and Juliana came back.

When she was done changing and everything was ready, she went to lay down on one of the lounge chairs by the pool. A pop hits playlist played softly on the background.

A few minutes later, she heard Chivis announce Juliana’s presence. “Mi niña, your friend is here!” she got up so fast from the chair she got dizzy.

“Juls!” she exclaimed when she saw the other girl enter the house, instantly running towards her. Juliana smiled softly at Valentina and didn’t even flinch when she was almost tackled by the force of her embrace.

“Hey, Val.” She murmured into her shoulder. Valentina breathed her in, the flowery smell she’d come to love was stronger since the other girl had just showered. “What are we doing this afternoon?” she asked when Valentina finally let her go.

Valentina took her hand and led her to the pool area. “I was thinking we could swim for a bit?” She asked her.

Juliana’s smile faltered “Val” she looked away, “I don’t know how to swim.” She admitted.

Valentina’s heart melted at how embarrassed she sounded. “That’s fine! I could teach you.” She offered, squeezing her hand encouragingly.

The shorter girl gave her a shy nod. “Okay. But I don’t have a swim suit.”

She grinned down at her. “I gotcha.” She winked.

-

Valentina had never attempted to teach anyone how to swim, but she didn’t think it would be too hard. I mean it was basically just floating, and it wasn’t like the pool was that deep. If anything went wrong, she was confident she would be perfectly capable of handling it, thank you very much.

“Val, please don’t let go of me, please.” Squealed Juliana as she helped her stay afloat.

“I won’t”, she assured her, “trust me.” Juliana nodded, clinging to her with her eyes closed.

Valentina shifted Juliana’s weight in her arms putting one arm under her shoulders and the other one on her waist. Juliana giggled nervously in her ear; Valentina hadn’t realized she was so close to her face.

Juliana opened her eyes then, sobering up at the serious look in Valentina’s eyes. There was some kind of energy attracting them like magnets.

They both leaned in at the same time, noses brushing and breaths mixed. Valentina could almost savor Juliana’s strawberry chapstick.

She didn’t though, because just as she worked up the courage to finally connect their lips, Silvina called out to them.

“Vale, mi amor,” she said sweetly, “I made snacks for you girls, would you like me to bring them here?”

Valentina’s brain wasn’t functioning enough to formulate a coherent answer, so she just nodded. Juliana was already climbing the pool’s ladder when she recovered. She followed after her, with shaky legs. _What the fuck just happened?_

Juliana wrapped herself in a towel and sat on one of the lounge chairs. Valentina took a seat in front of her. They both stared at each other without uttering a word.

Valentina felt on edge, she didn’t know why she had almost kissed her best friend, but she was sure she had wanted to, oh so much. Even now, she couldn’t stop staring at Juliana’s lips, they looked extremely soft and inviting.

Their staring match was interrupted by a phone ringing nearby. They both looked towards the sound, trying to decipher whose phone it was. Finally, Juliana got up and picked it up.

Valentina used the time Juliana took to answer her call to pull herself together.

Juliana came back ten minutes later, an apologetic look on her face and her street clothes on, Valentina’s heart sank, she had messed up. “Nana said Nubia got sick and Pedro is alone at the café. I’m going to head back and help them.” The other girl said.

Valentina nodded. “Okay.” She got up and stood in front of the brunette. “I can go help too.” She offered.

Juliana shook her head, “There’s no need; the _princesita_ has to rest.” She teased her.

She let out a shaky breath, relieved that whatever had almost happened hadn’t made things weird between them. “Okay. I’ll walk you out.”

* * *

When Juliana was gone, Valentina went to lay down on her bed and started to reflect on the day’s events. More specifically, her almost kiss with Juliana.

Was she gay?

She’d never thought of herself as anything; gay, bi, straight, she’d never really labelled herself, didn’t see the need.

But now, everything came crashing down on her. Maybe the real reason she’d never liked any of the guys her friends set her up with in Canada, or why she felt so physically sick at the prospect of dating Lucho. Maybe it wasn’t because she didn’t like those boys, maybe she just didn’t like boys at all. Maybe she liked girls, or rather, one girl.

_Maybe, maybe, maybe._

“Ay, Valentina.” She said to herself as she face-planted on her mattress.

* * *

She spent the entirety of the Saturday researching _“amor entre mujeres_ ” and _“estoy enamorada de mi mejor amiga?!?!?!?!”._

The results threw a lot of porn at her, but some of them were helpful. She found a test that asked her simple questions about her relationship with Juliana. She was surprised to find that other girls normally didn’t crave their friend’s presence every second they were apart. It was ridiculous in her opinion.

At the end of the test, her results had told her to _WAKE UP, GIRL: YOU’RE A FUCKING LESBIAN WHO’S IN LOVE WITH HER BEST FRIEND._

Valentina had felt peace after that, then immediately panicked because _SHE WAS A FUCKING LESBIAN WHO’S IN LOVE WITH HER BEST FRIEND._

“Ay, Valentina.” she repeated to herself.

_This is totally fine_ , she thought, _cool, cool, cool, cool. I got this._

She planned how to ask Juliana out on Sunday and , unsurprisingly, all of her ideas involved her dramatically professing her feelings and Juliana and her kissing right after.

She never conceived the possibility of Juliana not reciprocating her affections.

* * *

Her personal hell began that Monday.

She woke up very late that day, having gone to sleep at a ridiculously late hour after thinking about Juliana the entire night. She was already half an hour late when she got out of her house.

When she finally got to the café, Ramona shot her an unimpressed look. Valentina pouted at the old lady and regretfully said: “I’m sorry.”

The woman shook her head and silently pointed towards the restroom. _Yikes_.

-

After she was done disinfecting the toilets, she went to look for Juliana.

When she found her, seconds later, her heart skipped a beat. The brunette looked as beautiful as always, her hair was up in a messy bun at the top of her head, her work clothes fit her perfectly and her apron made her look adorable in Valentina’s eyes. She really was a fucking lesbian who’s in love with her best friend.

Valentina was also in love with her best friend’s smile. That smile that seemed to light up the entire café -the entire world- made Valentina’s brain malfunction.

She followed that enchanting smile until she was standing right in front of it.

“Hey.” was the only thing she could muster.

“Hey yourself.” Juliana sent her another devastatingly pretty grin as she cleaned a table. “I didn’t hear much from you this weekend…” she trailed off.

Valentina nodded, “Yeah, I had some… stuff with my family.” She lied; she wasn’t about to confess she’d spent the whole weekend fantasizing with her.

Juliana’s lips imitated the shape of an O. “I thought you might’ve-” she shook her head. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

They cleaned the tables in silence, as Valentina worked up the courage to tell Juliana about her less than platonic feelings.

Half an hour and a mental pep talk later, Val was ready to get her girl.

She rid her apron from invisible wrinkles and straightened her spine as she walked toward the counter, where the object of her affections served a costumer.

All her confidence left her body when she saw that smile (her smile, or what she thought was her smile), directed at someone else.

There was this guy talking (flirting?!) with Juliana, he was making her laugh, so hard that she threw her head back with laughter.

Valentina felt tiny all of a sudden, so small that she was sure no one could see her. She hoped that was the case so the people around her missed the way her heart broke.

* * *

She spent the next couple of days sulking.

Juliana’s new _friend,_ Sergio, spent all of his free time glued to her. So much that Valentina hadn’t had a chance to talk to her. He was like a parasite, so tightly attached to Juliana that he was sucking the life out of her.

It pissed Valentina off, how he hoarded Juliana’s attention, and even worse, how it didn’t seem to bother Juliana all that much.

On one specific occasion, his clinginess made her so mad that she accidentally hurt herself while grinding the ice for a raspado.

One second she was cursing Sergio’s name in her head, and the next she was cursing her own name out loud. “Fuck!” she cried. Her arm was bleeding profusely, and honestly? It hurt like a bitch.

“Val!” she heard Juliana approached her; her brown eyes were filled with fear. “Are you okay, baby?”

She couldn’t even enjoy the term of endearment because was too busy trying to stop the bleeding. “I think I’m dying.” She told the other girl.

Juliana worriedly shook her head and used a towel to apply pressure to Valentina’s wound. “Sergio call my grandma please. Wait, no! Tell her I’m going to take Val to the hospital.”

The boy was pale, he looked like he was the one that had lost half his blood volume and not Val. “I- I can help”, he stammered. “I can-”

Juliana gave him the most terrifying look Valentina had ever seen in her face. “Just go!” she yelled. Then, she turned and gently helped Valentina walk out of the shop. “You’re going to be just fine, Val.” She whispered more for herself than for Valentina.

-

Juliana held her hand while the medical resident sutured Valentina’s wound. She didn’t even wince when Val squeezed her hand too tight.

When Valentina wasn’t in the brink of dying anymore, Juliana accompanied her home, arguing she needed to be 100% sure she was fine. Valentina didn’t have it in her to deny such a sweet request.

The moment her back hit the mattress, she let out a relieved breath, she hadn’t died!

Juliana sat on the bed next to her. “Val?” she called to her.

“Yeah” she answered. The brunette’s soulful eyes looked a her with so much concern, Valentina’s heart broke. “Chiquita.” She said, extending her good arm to wrap it around Juliana’s shoulders.

Juliana clinged to her waist with both arms, silently crying into her shoulder. “I was so scared.” Juliana admitted when she finally calmed down. “You haven’t been talking to me and I’ve missed you so much…” She sobbed. Valentina didn’t know her distancing herself would hurt Juliana this much. “…and, then this happened.” She continued. “You can´t scare me like this, Val.” Her voice wavered. “I’m sorry if I did something, if that time in the pool made you feel uncomfortable, I’m so, _so_ , sorry, just _please_ don’t stop being my friend. I need you. And today, seeing you like this was so goddamned scary.” She wiped at her tears.

Valentina was speechless, truly, she couldn’t believe how selfish she’d been towards the other girl, ignoring her for days. “I’m sorry.” She apologized. “I was just…” she took a deep breath “jealous.”

Juliana looked incredulously at her, “Jealous?” she asked. Valentina nodded. “Of whom?”

Val huffed; she couldn’t believe Juliana was going to make her say it. “That stupid bridge troll.” She said, without meeting Juliana’s eyes.

Juliana seemed to process her answer, then, her eyes opened almost comically. “Sergio?”

Valentina nodded again, feeling self-conscious. The other girl erupted in giggles. Valentina frowned, offended by her reaction. “It’s not funny!” she exclaimed, punching the brunette’s shoulder lightly.

“Val, why on earth would you feel jealous of Sergio?” Juliana asked when she was sone laughing at Valentina.

Val shrugged. “He wouldn’t leave you alone, always clinging to you like a leech.” She said. “I thought you’d rather spend time with him.” She added in a small voice

Juliana shook her head profusely. “He annoys me. So much.” She admitted. “I’ve been waiting for him to get the hint, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening any time soon.”

She snorted. “I mean have you seen you? I wouldn’t give up that easily, either.” Except she sort of had, the moment Sergio in, all his five foot five, glory had walked into their lives.

Juliana’s chocolate eyes widened as she blushed prettily. “Well, I don’t care about him.” She said after she recovered. “I would care though, if it was you” she admitted with an amount of courage Valentina herself didn’t think she could muster.

Valentina’s heart skipped a beat, was this really happening? Or had she died from blood lost and this was heaven?

The other girl was looking at her, waiting for her reaction. When Valentina didn’t say anything in a while, she nodded and stood up from the bed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that.” Her voice sounded shaky.

That made Valentina react. “Wait,” She said before Juliana left the room. “I care too.” The other girl turned to look at her again, she looked so vulnerable Valentina wanted to cry. “I like you. Romantically.” She finally confessed, feeling like a weight was being lifted from her chest. “And that’s why I was jealous, because I thought you liked Sergio. I was hurt and a bad friend and, again, I’m _sorry_.”

Juliana hid her face in her hands and breathed deeply through her nose. “You really are an idiot, Valentina Carvajal.” She said before walking back to Valentina’s bed and kissing her.

Their lips finally joining felt like the biggest secret of the universe: magical, miraculous, and exciting.

Valentina could swear her brain exploded when Juliana circled her neck with her arms, deepening their kiss. She was sure she had died, the need to devour Juliana’s lips the only thing tethering her to the earth.

They kissed for what felt like hours and seconds, all at the same time. Valentina chased Juliana’s lips when she finally leaned back. “Wow.” She whispered, still entranced.

Juliana smiled happily and pecked her again before answering: “Wow.”

It took awhile for them to completely come back to their senses. “So…” Valentina trailed off. “You like me too?” she asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer already.

“Valentina.” Juliana said seriously. “Yo estoy enamorada de ti.” She confessed.

Val could only kiss her again, happiness pushing away any other dark feeling she’d felt in the past week. “I’m in love with you too.” She said between kisses, making Juliana giggle cutely. “So much.”

* * *

The next morning, when she walked into the café, she saw Sergio talking with Juliana again. This time though, she recognized the annoyance in Juliana’s eyes and the stiffness of her smile.

“Hey, Juls.” She greeted her as she made her way towards the brunette.

Juliana looked surprised to see her there, “Val! What are you doing here?” she asked. “You’re supposed to be resting that arm.” She scolded her.

Valentina gave her the most charming smile she could muster. “I was bored.” She shrugged.

Sergio must had felt left out of the conversation because he spoke next. “Hi, Valentina. How’s the arm?” He asked her politely.

She lifted it, showing him the expense of her wound. “I got a couple of stiches.” She deadpanned.

He nodded empathetically, then turned to speak to Juliana again. “So, as I was saying, maybe we could, um, go to this Japanese place in-”

Juliana cut him off before he could finish. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Oh,” he deflated, “what about tomorrow? After your shift.”

Juliana shook her head, clicking her tongue. “Nope.” Sergio was about to suggest another thing when Juliana interrupted him again. “I can’t go out with you because I’ll be taking care of my girlfriend.” She told him. Valentina felt her jaw drop. “She can be pretty clumsy.” She pointed to Valentina’s bandaged arm.

Valentina thought Sergio looked like he was about to cry as he nodded and grabbed his freshly brewed cup of coffee from the counter, too embarrassed to say anything.

Valentina turned to look at Juliana after he was gone. “Girlfriend?” she asked with an eyebrow raised.

The other girl smiled sheepishly. “Was that too much? I didn’t want to like, out you, but he was really getting on my nerves.” She explained.

“I liked it.” Valentina confessed before pushing Juliana against the counter and giving her a searing kiss.

She was just about to untie the knot of Juliana’s apron when she heard someone clear their throat. They jumped away from each other when they recognized the sound, it was Mrs. Valdés. “Jovencitas, what are you doing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at them. “There’s clients waiting!” She exclaimed.

“Sorry, Nana” said Juliana with an adorable blush adorning her cheeks.

Valentina nodded her agreement. “Won’t happen again, Ramona.”

The old lady softened, “It’s fine, Vale.” She squished her cheeks. “I’m glad mi Juli is dating someone as sweet as you.” She cooed. “Now get out of here,” she slapped her cheek fondly “you’ve got to rest, cause you’re taking my granddaughter out tonight.”

Juliana groaned. “Nana…”

“Ay, Juli. Tell Vale to take you dancing, she must know a lot of _discotecas_ around here.” She said to her granddaughter. “Now, go. Walk your girlfriend to her car, I can hold the fort down while you come back.”

The younger brunette shook her head but obeyed, guiding Valentina out of the shop.

Thinking back, maybe she should thank her father for making her work at the café.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not sure what this is, but i did it, i guess. happy (late) valentine's day y'all
> 
> as always, yell at me on  
> twitter: _julesvaughn  
> tumblr: julianavaldcs


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